Bonus dollars drying up for dozens of Marine Corps jobs

Jan. 18, 2014 - 06:00AM
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Reconnaissance men engage targets with an M240B medium machine gun near Camp Schwab on Okinawa, Japan. The 0321 military occupational specialty is one of five high-demand, low-density MOSs that are guaranteed to get re-enlistment bonuses in fiscal year 2015. (Cpl. Mark W. Stroud/Marine Corps)

The Marine Corps has announced that nearly 100 specialties will stop offering re-enlistment bonuses in early February, including 75 specialties for first-term Marines with 17 months to six years of service.

The Marine Corps has announced that nearly 100 specialties will stop offering re-enlistment bonuses in early February, including 75 specialties for first-term Marines with 17 months to six years of service.

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The Marine Corps has announced that nearly 100 specialties will stop offering re-enlistment bonuses in early February, including 75 specialties for first-term Marines with 17 months to six years of service.

The bonuses will be suspended Feb. 8 as each of the military occupational specialties hits its fiscal 2014 manning targets, according to Marine administrative message 014/14, signed Jan. 10. Among the jobs that are closing is 0689 cyber security technician, which enjoyed this year’s highest payout, with Zone A sergeants taking home $60,750.

Those who re-enlist within 30 days of the release of the message are still eligible to take home thousands in cash, depending on their job.

The announcement of fiscal 2014 selective re-enlistment bonuses, released in late June, contained good news for some Marines as more specialties became eligible and a few took home more cash than the year before. The total sum of bonuses paid out, however, declined. That trend is expected to continue as the drawdown pushes ahead.

This summer when re-up bonuses are announced for fiscal 2015, Marines can expect to see fewer MOSs eligible. Those that are eligible will likely offer less money. That is the result of shrinking budgets, Col. Bill Tosick, head of the Manpower Plans, Programs and Budget Branch at Quantico, Va., told Marine Corps times in late December.

Manpower planners had $79 million to hand out this year. That will shrink to just $55 million for 2015, and about 80 percent of that budget will go to Marines in one of five high-demand, low-density MOSs that are difficult to keep stocked with qualified Marines. Those include 0211 counterintelligence/human intelligence specialist, 0321 reconnaissance man, 0372 critical skills operator, 0689 cyber security technician and 2336 explosive ordnance disposal technician.